The percentage of Arkansas public school students with a body mass index (BMI) measurement in the obese range increased to a record level in the 2020-21 school year – results that coincide with the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic – according to a new ACHI report on childhood obesity. Read More
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will now have authority to regulate synthetic nicotine under provisions included in the federal omnibus spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law today by President Joe Biden. This new authority will expand the FDA’s existing authority to regulate tobacco plant-based nicotine in vaping products to include nicotine made in labs. Read More
This infographic illustrates information about e-cigarette use among Arkansas public school students and provides potential state policy options for addressing youth e-cigarette use. This is part of ACHI’s 100 Arkansans initiative. Read More
In his latest monthly column for Talk Business & Politics, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wilson uses the occasion of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to discuss the importance of getting screened for the disease, which is expected to kill about 560 Arkansans in 2022. Read More
Thirteen Arkansas hospitals face penalties of 1% reductions in Medicare payments in federal fiscal year 2022 for high rates of hospital-acquired conditions, up from 10 hospitals in 2021 and 2020. Thirty-four hospitals were not penalized and 40 were exempt. Read More
It’s been almost a year and half since we launched our podcast, Wonks at Work, to demystify complex healthcare topics (unwonk them, if you will). During the first 25 installments, ACHI Health Policy Director and host Craig Wilson has welcomed several guests from a variety of sectors to help you better understand how the system is working – or not working – for you. Read More
In this installment in our series explaining key terms and phrases used by public health officials in discussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we look at the term “monoclonal antibodies.” Read More
ACHI's Dr. Joe Thompson discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, emergence of omicron subvariant, and what endemic phase of COVID-19 might look like. Read More
The City Health Dashboard, an online resource for viewing and comparing data from multiple sources on health and factors that affect health in hundreds of U.S. cities, is inviting cities with populations under 50,000 to compete for the opportunity to be added to the dashboard. Read More
A new federal law, the No Surprises Act, is intended to protect patients from surprise medical bills. In a guest column for Talk Business & Politics, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wilson discusses what surprise medical billing is and how the law aims to prevent it. Read More
